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Angel
: Track : Polydor |bsides = : "Night Bird Flying" : "Freedom" |producers = Jimi Hendrix |charts = None |rating = }} "Angel" (also known as "Sweet Angel") is a song by Jimi Hendrix, originally from his 1971 posthumous album The Cry of Love. The song was written by Hendrix and recorded at Electric Lady Studios on July 23rd, 1970 with Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. "Angel" was released posthumously as a single in the United Kingdom and Germany in March 1971, and was backed with "Night Bird Flying" and "Freedom" respectively. The song also featured as the B-side to the "Freedom" single, released in the United States on March 8th, 1971. History Jimi wrote "Angel" early in 1968, during the writing process for Electric Ladyland, and completed the song on January 14th. The original lyrics were quite different from those used on the Cry of Love version, and the title written by Jimi is "My Angel Catherina (Return of Little Wing)", suggesting that the (probably metaphorical) woman subject of "Little Wing" is the same as that of "Angel". Analysis Meaning "Angel" was inspired by a dream Jimi had about his mother, Lucille Hendrix. One of the main inspirations for Jimi's lyrics, dreams often featured his mother, or a similar mother figure, and a similar dream he had two years before her death in 1958 essentially predicted her demise. In a similar light to "Drifting", "Night Bird Flying" and "In From the Storm", "Angel" shows how important to Jimi a mother figure is to save him from isolation and loneliness. Style The song is a mellow blues composition which features classically elaborative chord work from Jimi and purposely restrained drumming from usually firey Mitch. The guitars are clean and compliment the droning style of singing well, contributing to the poetic ballad that is "Angel". Lyrics ''The Cry of Love'' version Angel came down from heaven yesterday, She stayed with me just long enough to rescue me. And she told me a story yesterday, About the sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea. And then she spread her wings high over me, She said she's gonna come back tomorrow. And I said "Fly on my sweet angel, Fly on through the sky. Fly on my sweet angel, Tomorrow I'm gonna be by your side." Sure enough, this morning came unto me, Silver wings silhouette against the child's sunrise. And my angel, she said unto me, "Today is the day for you to rise. Take my hand, you're gonna be my man, you're gonna rise." And then she took me high over yonder, lord. And I said "Fly on my sweet angel, Fly on through the sky. Fly on my sweet angel, Forever I will be by your side." ''The Home Recordings'' version Angel come down from heaven yesterday, She stayed with me just long enough for afternoon tea. And she tell me a story yesterday, About the love between the moon and the deep blue sea. And when it was time for her to go she spread her wings high over me, And she said "I shall return tomorrow". And I said "Fly on my sweet angel, Fly on through the sky. Fly on my sweet angel, Tomorrow I will feel you by my side." And sure enough, this morning comes to me, Well silver-wing silhouette against a glow of the child's sunrise. And as the bluebirds and the sparrows envy me, She says "I love you little boy, and today you shall fly." She kissed me once, and the feeling so good she made me cry, And now, we'll fly together. And I said "Fly on my sweet angel, Fly on through the sky. Fly on my sweet angel, Together we shall always be alive." Appearances Studio albums *1971: The Cry of Love Compilation albums *1997: First Rays of the New Rising Sun *1997: South Saturn Delta **Early instrumental version as "Little Wing" **Early version as "Sweet Angel (Angel)" EPs *1995: Jimi By Himself: The Home Recordings **Solo 'clean' version (wrongly labelled as acoustic) Track listings All songs were written by Jimi Hendrix. United Kingdom Side A #"Angel" – 4:25 Side B #"Night Bird Flying" – 3:50 Germany Side A #"Angel" – 4:25 Side B #"Freedom" – 3:24 Credits *Jimi Hendrix – guitars, vocals, voice *Mitch Mitchell – drums *Billy Cox – bass guitar ---- *Producer: Jimi Hendrix *Engineer: Eddie Kramer Release details Gallery of artwork Image:AngelGer71.jpg| German cover Cover versions *Rod Stewart, for his 1972 album Never a Dull Moment. The song was also released as a single and reached #4 in the UK and #40 in the US. *Faces, for their 1974 live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. *Gil Evans, for his 1974 album Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix. *Stanley Jordan, for his 1985 album Magic Touch. *Pinguin Moschner and Joe Sachse, for their 1994 album If 69 Was 96. *Blue Blot, for their 1994 album Yo Yo Man. *The Jeff Healy Band, for their 1995 album Cover to Cover. *Roy Coyote, for his 1995 album Roy Coyote. *Dee Carstensen, for her 1995 album Regarding the Soul. *The Hamsters, for their 1996 live album The Jimi Hendrix Memorial Concerts: 1995. *The Paolo Fresu Quartet, for their 1998 album Angel. *Roy Mette, for his 2001 album A New Experience: An Acoustic Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. *Craig Erickson Project, from their 2001 album Shine. *Eric Bibb, for his 2001 album Painting Signs. *The Cruel Sea, for their 2003 album We Don't Work We Play Music. References Links *Angel (Jimi Hendrix song) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia *Angel by Jimi Hendrix - 911Tabs, tabs search engine *Angel Acoustic by Jimi Hendrix - 911Tabs, tabs search engine Navigation Category:Songs Category:1971 songs Category:1997 songs Category:Singles Category:1971 singles Category:B-sides Category:1971 B-sides